The Athena press., March 01, 1907, Image 4

GOTHAM'S HOTEL POPULATION.
Six Tim en That of Pari and Some
time Rearhes 1K5.00O a Dir.
The Lome spirit in New York has al
ready been so shattered ly the gran
diose hotel t'Jiit 41 per cent of the so
called "fashionables" now reside In
these bewildering wravaLjaries In pref
erence to dwelling beneath their own
Tine nnd fig tree, nays Success. The
latest edition of the Social Register
shows that 9,000 families in New York
with wealth and aristocratic pride have
given up their private homes to live In
hotels. An expert who has studied
the hotel business in every principal
4-ountry of two hemispheres says that
New York cares for three times as
many persons ns does London.six times
as many as does Tai ls nnd ten times as
many as does any other city that can
1 named. There are 130 large flrst
vlass hotels In Manhattan alone, more
than 300 including the smaller ones
aiud, at the mte of construction at pres
ent, the calculation has been made
that within twenty years there will be
on Manhattan island alono 380 hotels
f 4C0 rooms each, or of greater size.
Cradled wherever it may have been,
the hostelry art has surely found Its
Jiome in the American metropolis and
one needs uo further figures than those
just given to furnish explanation of
the amazing evolution of the hotel In
Tfew York City. With a floating popu
lation each clay ranging from 75,000
to 183.000, according to the railroad
passenger accountants, lor the various
seasons of the year, there is little won
ler that New .York has become the
ity of earth most conspicuous for Its
lioteH
The word "palace" lias been applied
to hotels since the memory of man run
neth not to the contrary and a good
natured world has always accepted it
s a jestful hyperbole. But out of the
Kew York conception of a hostelry has
-onie n creation, In the description of
which "palace" becomes a feeble mis
nomer. LATE SHAH OF PEBSIA.
The Shah of Persia, Muzaffer-ed-Dln,
tiled recently, In the fifty-fourth year
of his age and the eleventh of his reign,
lie was a Btudent of philosophy and
literature, a pntrou of the arts and a
Urogresslve ruler. He was familiar
with Western Institutions, and made
several visits to European capitals for
ai closer study of them. .'One of his
last official nets was to sign the new
constitution under which Persia, for
ssilifiaii
MI !
MlZAFFtB-EB-DIN.
the first time, is to have a parliament.
"Muzaffer-ed-Diu was born on March
23. 1853, and succeeded his father,
Nazr-ed-Dln, on May Day, 1890. The
SMiah, who had six sons and twelve
laughters, showed himself a man of
Ideas. This picture Is a late one.
The late Shah Is succeeded by his
eldest son, Mohammed All Mlrza, who
is In his thirty-fifth year. He Is well
educated and lu sympathy with his
father's liberal Ideas. Among the an-
lent nnd characteristically Orieutal
titles which he will assume are Shah
lushah, or King of Kings; Zil Allah,
Shadow ftf God; the Klbleh Alum,
Onter of the World; the Exalte?! One,
Kxalted ns the plauet Saturn ; the Well
f Knowledge; the King Whose Stand
jird is the Sun. nnd Whose Spleudor
:is That of the Firmament.
2ITJGE COAL BILL OF RAILROADS.
Locomotive Burn Many Thousands
of Tana of Fuel.
The bill for locomotive fuel Is the
largest Item of expense for materials
Incurred by railroads and it averages
ailwut 13 per cent of the total operat
Ing expense. The annual reports of
railroads give a few figures relating
to fuel which help in forming an Idea
f the enormous consumption of coal
ly railroads In the year covered, says
,the Railway Age.
Tims the report of the Rock Island
system for the year ended with June,
r.00, when It operated 1,257 locomo
tives, shows that the coal bill v
nearly $5,000,000. On the Chicago and
JCorthwesteru for the same period,
when It operated 1.342 locomotives, the
c-ost for fuel for them was $5,S02,000.
The Interstate Commerce Concnla-
ilon statistics for the year 1904 shows
that the locomotive fuel bill for all the
railroads in the United States amount
ed to $139,000,000. If we take the
am-rage cost of coal at $1.50 per ton,
which is probably high for the whole
country, this would represent a con
sumption of 100,000.000 tons of coal,
fi
The number of locomotives owned by
railroads In the year 1004 was 40,883,
and assuming 8 per cent of these to be
In the shop under repairs, there remain
37,508 engines In service, and this num
ber, divided Into 100,000,000 tons, gives
2.820 tons as the average consumption
of coal per engine year.
Coming now to something more def
inite, for a single road, we find from
the annual report of the Union Pacific
for the year ended with June. 1903,
that It paid for Its coal $3,394,388, and
that the average cost per ton was $1.70,
so that the coal consumed by locomo
tives on that line amounted to 1,928,
C20 tons. The number of locomotives
then owned was 825, from which wo
deduct 8 per cent, leaving 767 In active
service; this figure divided into the
tons, as given, shows an average con
sumption per engine year of 2,515 tons.
In the Chicago and Alton annual re
port for the year ended with June,
1900, we find the coal bill was $754,000,
and the average cost per ton was $1.20,
which eorresnonds to n eonsnmntlon of
628,300 tons. The total engine equip-
ment is 250, less 8 per cent, leaves 230
In active service, which divided Into
the tons shows a consumption of 2,730
tons or coai per engine year, in tne
Lehigh Valley report for the same
year there Is a statement showing
that the locomotives on that road made
an average of 34,921 miles per year,
and that the coal consumption per en
gine mile was 152.4 pounds. The prod
uct of these two figures gives 5,321,900
pounds, or 2,000 tons per engine year.
This figure lies between those obtained
for the Alton and the Union Pacific,
and we may Infer that the average
consumption of coal by locomotives on
roads having modern equipment , Is
probably about 2,500 tons per year.
COURTESY SEEN IN SPAIN.
Traveler Get Beat Jdea While Jour
neying by Rati Third Class.
The stranger can not perhaps more
easily get a glimpse of the true and
ancient Spain that by acquiring the
habit of traveling third class. The
seats, Indeed, are hard, but the coin-
pany is usually excellent, charming in
its manners and not offensive ln any
sense. Here a constant series of novel
pictures is presented to the traveler,
who may quietly study them at leisure.
Perhaps It Is a dozen merry girls on
their way to a festival, packed tightly
together and laden with packages;
some, the more sedate among them,
wear mantillas, bouip bright handker
chiefs on their heads or go with hair
uncovered, but however they are dress
ed,' to whatever class they belong, they
are all clean and sweet. j
Or perhaps It Is a less crowded car-
rlace one enters: there are two mld-
rtie.eiKa Snnnlnrds and a neasant
group of three; a fat, jolly, middle- other designs of snow plows, for In
aged man in a peasant's costume, but -ad of being anything in the nature
clean and new, ahno&t stylish ; a wom
an of like age one of those free, ro
bust, kindly women whom Spain pro
duces so often, and a pretty barehead
ed girl, evidently ber daughter, though
the man seems a friend or relative
I
who Is escorting them on their Jour
ney. By and by, when we have been
some hours on our journey, he lifts
from the seat in front of him the large,
heavy, embroidered wallet the alfor-
a, which Sancho ranza was always so
anxious to keep well filled unwinds it
and draws out one of the great, flat,
delicious Spanish loaves and throws It
on the woman's lap.
Then a dish of stewed meat appears
and the bread is cut In slices which
serve as nlates . for the meat. But be-
fore the meal is begun the peasant
turns round with" a hearty "Gusta?"
It is the invitation to share In the teast
whleh every polite Spaniard must make
even to strangers who happen to be
present, and it is. as a matter of course,
politely refused: "Muchns graclas."
Before long the black leather wine bot- wlched in between two icciurea.
tie is produced from the wallet and Thomas Ryan a member of the fam
the meal proceeds. . 'ous quintet clul-ln "The Recollections
At its final stage some kind of sweet- - of an Old Museum," tens oi iue i.i
meat appears and small fragments are tion of a young woman lecturer In a
offered to the two middle-class Span-
lards, and then with a slight half
movement, expressing a fine courtesy
restrained by the fear of offering any
offensive attention to the foreign ca-
ballero also. It Is not Improper to ac-; lined up to meet her, and she was cere
cept this time and now the leather bot-! moulously Introduced, then and there,
tie Is handed round and the middle- to each one. As tbe weatner was ex
class Spaniards avail themselves of it, tremely cold, the process was an ordeal.
thoueh with awkward unfamiliarity.
Atlantic Monthly.
rea for Cant-Oft Shoes.
Whnt becomes of old boots and shoes
has hitherto been almost as puzzling a
lirnhleni ns where all the nins eo to. .
The solution, however, is given In the!
Boot and Shoe Trades Journal.
nirt hnnt nnd Rhne nf lender r
cut up Into small pieces and then are
put for two days ln chloride of sulphur,
the effect of which Is to make the
leather hard and brittle.
When this is fully effected the mate
rial Is withdrawn from the action of
the chloride of sulphur, washed with
water, dried and ground to powder.
It Is then mixed with some substance
u . .k , """""'
such as shellac or other resinous ma -
terlal or even good glue ana a thick
solution of strong gum.
It Is afterward pressed into molds to
form combs, buttons and a variety of
other useful objects.
Prusslate of potash is also made out
of old leather. It Is heated with pearl
ash and old iron hoops in a large pot
The nitrogen and carbon form cyanogen
and then unite with the iron and po
tassium. The soluble portions are dis
solved out and the resulting salt, added
to one of Iron, produces the well-known
Prussian blue, either for'dyelng pur
poses or as a plgmeut
vj.
Probably the most picturesque phase
of American railroad operations is
found ln the manner ln which the
steam roads of the West battle with
the giant snowdrifts of the mountain
wglons. This novel activity Is seen ln
lts n,ost spectacular form on the higher
levels of the Rocky mountains. The
largest rotary snow plow In the world
)s ln 8ervice on tDat engineering mar-
vel, the Moffat railroad in Colorado,
and the manner In which It , bores
through the great whlte banks that
block the steel-tracked highway has
solved one of the most perplexing prob
lems of operating a railroad more than
11,000 feet above the level of the sea.
In the early days of railroading ln
the region beyond the Mississippi rlverj
the familiar hand shovel was the main
dependence for clearing the tracks, and
after every heavy fall of "the beauti
ful" an army of men that Included ev
ery available employe of the road was
hurried to points where blockades
might be expected. Locomotives, ln
strings of two, three or four were also
hurled against the drifts ln an effort
to dislodge the troublesome masses of
icy crystals.
As a solution for this last-mentioned
makeshift some genius Invented the
'ua" ""w' a uub "s"".
00 hlf "uf s" tn
drifts impelled by the force of several
Powerful locomotives behind it. and If
Bnow b?"lers be not too heavy, can
'orce a Pathway through the mass.
uincvci, luv Luai evcu tue ucavi-
cst snow plows are ofttlmes baffled
by the "drifts In the mountains Indi
cated the necessity for a yet more pow
erful type of snow fighter, and thus In
time there was evolved the snow plow
known as the rotary, which has revolu
tionized the methods of lighting snow
and Is represented ln the rolling stock
of every railroad that Is liable to feel
the grip of the western blizzard,
ln the principle of Its operation the
radically different from all
of a scoop or shovel that shoves the
snow aside, its chief working mechan
ism consists of a monster wheel which
burrows through the snow, tossing the
'more or less fleecy material In every
direction. The wheel or snow screw
' 4qqqcww&&&&$&&Q&
IN OLD "LYCEUM" DAYS.
QQQQQQ&$Q4QQWbQ&
The golden days of the lecture plat
form are past, and the lecture bureau
Is no longer the active feature of the
Intellectual life that It was fifty or
even twenty-flve years ago. At one time
almost' every town, East and West.
imi Its lecture course each winter.
unnv were the adventures experiencea
by tne lecturers as they penetrated the
provincial parts of the country w ue-
uver their messages of wisdom or
amusement. Sometimes a concert by the
Mendelssohn Qvflntet Club, or some
other musical organization, was sand-.
small Wisconsin town;
it was a young men's society which
had summoned her, made np c very
youthful members. When she reached
the station the entire association was
This over, the leader wipea nis urow
and looked abo,ut as If asking what to
do next Miss Andrews suggested the
hotel. A one-horse sleigh was produc
ed; the leader handed the lecturer ln.
got In himself and offered her the reins.
She declined, saying he knew the horse
nnd way better than she The young
eeemed relieved, and quite satis-
fled that he had shown the guest of the
society every courtesy possible.
That evening the whole association
again met and escorted the lecturer to
the hall. The room was packed.
On the stage was an old-fashioned
settee with legs in the middle and at
each end. When Miss Andrews sat
down the affair tilted with her. A
large, heavily built clergyman came In
and seated himself on the other end.
Up went the settee, and up went Miss
1 ..wg ... . nQ . .
Andrews until her feet no longer touch
ed the floor. The audience giggled and
Miss Andrews laughed ; there was noth
ing else to da
I The lecturer scanned the house.
?TJn,"g
man in a red flannel shirt who never
took his eyes off the lady on the plat
form. ) Finally the reverend giant rose to In
troduce the lecturer. This suddenly let
Miss Andrews' end of the settee dawn
with a thud.
I The clergyman was long-winded, and
the red-shirt ed young man became rest-
IN
at the forward end of a rotary resem
bles the propeller of a steamship or a
giant electric fan, although, of course,
It has many more blades than either of
these. i
The wheel of the average rotary
snow fighter is from 8 to 12 feet ln
diameter and consists of a series of
hollow, cone-ehaped steel scoops, each
equipped with a knife-like piece of
metaL As the wheel revolves at high
sieed, these blades strike- the snow
and' Ice loosening It and throwing it
into the scoops. The wheel proper is
Inclosed In a metal hood, at the top of
which Is a square opening or funnel.
By the revolution of the wheel, the
snow caught up by the scoops Is thrown
through this opening with great force,
and the funnel Is so shaped that the
snow is hurled In an oblique direction
and caused to fall at a distance of from
50 to 100 feet from the side of the
track, according to the speed at which
the wheel Is being operated. Moreover,
the hood is Inclined inward, so that the
falling snow does not descend upon the
top of the rotary and bury the machine
in a drift of its own making.
The rotary plow, like the old-fashioned
type of push plow, Is propelled
by a couple of powerful locomotives,
hut the power for operating the great
propeller is contained within the plow
itself. This Is supplied by ah engine
somewhat resembling a marine engine,
but capable of developing almost as
much power as a locomotive. The ro
tary must withstand the force of push
ing engines behind, as well as counter
act the side motion of the great whir
ring wheel, and consequently the roof
and sides, as well as the framework,
are of metal, and the machinery is set
as near the ground as possible, ln or
der to help "steady" this energetic me
chanical toller. The weight of the av
erage rotary, complete with tender for
fuel and water, is more than 100 tons.
At the forward part of the plow Is the
pilot house, wherein Is stationed the
pilot who directs the operation of the
rotary and communicates the necessary
instructions to the engineers of the lo
comotives In the rear.
A giant rotary can force Its way
through almost any snow barriers at a
speed of from four to six miles per
hour, as a minimum. The ponderous,
knife-armed wheel spins around at a
ppeed of from 150 to 300 revolutions
HAREY K. THAW. MILLIONAIRE TRIED FOR MURDER.
ST " -?
Types of pretty facea that flitted through the brain of the man whom
Jealousy finally drove to murder.
The question of Harry Kendall Thaw'B mental condition and his conse
quent legal responsibility for some of his acts Is one that has agitated the
minds of many persons sinee the news first flashed over the world that the
headstrong vounz mllionalre had shot down Stanford White, the New York
architect Was it anger or Insanity that governed Thaw's act on that fatal
night when the gay throng of patrons at a New York roof garden were
startled by the murder committed In their midst? This question was for
court and Jury to decide, .
lesa At last he called out In impatient
tones:
"Dry up, old man! Give the young
gal a chancer .
The only reason some men care to
succeed la to be able to show their su
periority to their enemlea.
per minute, according to the weight
and character of the snow and ice en- (
countered. Close and continual watch
fulness Is necessary on the part of the
pilot, for the character of the snow
mass encountered may change with
scarcely a moment's warning from
loosely drifted flakes to densely packed
snow Incrusted with Ice, and mayhap
with ice formations four or five inches
thick scattered through it Into some
portions of the vast snow coverlet the
rotary may plunge with Impunity at a
speed of only 400 or at most 000 feet
per minute, while banks of soft snow
permit a speed of say twelve miles per
hour. However, an Indicator in the
pilot house records every fluctuation ln
the resistance offered by the snow bar
riers and a pneumatic whistle enables
the pilot to quickly signal for any de
sired change of speed.
The snow depths at some of the high
er altitudes of the American Alps are
almost Incredible, but a big rotary,
working like a herculean augur and
tossing aside its snow borings like
chips driven out of" a fan blower In
a planing mill, could actually burrow
to any depth If there were any way
to get rid of the snow thus excavated.
The whole principle of the armored car
with the big wheel churning the snow
before it is so simple that once It had
been devised railroad men wondered
that they had not hit upon the scheme
long ago. . '
There are places where the work of
the rotary plows ln keeping open the
trail for the iron horses is ably aug
mented, on the principle of prevention,
by great snowsheds stout fences or
wooden tunnels designed to keep the
snow from drifting over the tracks
but it is probable that had the effi
ciency of the modern rotary marvels
been anticipated, many railroads would
not have expended as much money as
they did some years ago In construct
ing snowsheds. Thirty-two miles of
snowsheds, costing $04 a foot, or nearly
$11,000,000 ln the aggregate, represents
the price one transcontinental railroad
had to pay before It could successfully
operate its trains over the Rooky moun
tain division.
Nowadays the rotarles cost something
like $10,000 each, but even at that price
tbey represent a great Bavlng over
snowsheds which, aside from their first
cost, eat up thousands of dollars in re
pairs every year. Moreover,, the ro
tarles have been Instrumental ln saving
countless lives not merely by carrying
aid and food to snow-bound trains and
snow-bound villages, but also by reduc
ing the number of casualties among
railroad men engaged In fighting the
snow. Waldon Fawcett ln St Louis
Globe-Democrat
She Overdid It. I
"My daughter bought that latest pop
THE AMEER OF AFGHANISTAN.
British India has been doing hone
to a royal visitor from beyond tti
j northwest frontier, who, bears the nam
i of Habibullah Khan and rules moui
i tainous Afghanistan, which acts as
'bluffer between Russia and Britali
jThe Ameer Is thirty-five years of ag
and succeeded his father, Abdur Ral
man Khan, In 1901. His crown Is m
HABIBULLAH KHAN.
an easy one, for the intrigues of t
Queen mother and the jealousy of t
brothers cause him constant anxiel
That Is one of the reasons why be h
elected to, lean on British support
Make Moier at Trapping".
The last few years of the life of Jol
Macdougall, son of Rev. John Macdo
gall, the first missionary who work
ln the Canadian Northwest, and L.
S. Ward are brimful of adventure. It
Macdougall has been working for t
Hudson Bay Company ln the far norl
while for the last six or seven consef
tive years Mr. Ward has been trad
on his own account with the Indl..
and half-breeds.
In this wild country It is no unco
mon thing for a trapper to spe
months without seeing a soul exceptl
the solitary mall carrier who trudj
along with his dogsled, often coverl
as much as 100 miles In a day. T
country In the district where these
trappers live abounds with moose, mu
ox, arctic foxes in fact, it Is a veri
ble hunter's paradise. .
During the season the trappers, w
are composed almost solely of India
and half-breeds, make from $500 to $
COO, according to the plentlfulness
furs. During the summer months tl
pass their time spending this mom
Horses are unknown among the I
and Beaves tribes, dogs, snowshoes a
canoes being the sole means of tra;
portation. Attempts have been ma
to harness moose and a trapper nam
Poacher Purdy has succeeded ln taml
a team which he drives regularly el
er to sleigh or his home-made wagi
Flre-Kllled Timber Good.
Flre-kllled timber, the forest serv
has discovered, Is some use after
This Is a thing that has been kn
In the West for a long time. The dit
trous "forest fires" do completely hv
up timber in many cases, but there
thousands of acres where the tlml
Is simply "flre-kllled;" that Is to s
it is killed standing by the fire t)
sweeps through It and finally rots
the ground and falls ln the first wl
storm. Immense areas of this tini
have been. utilized in mining and r
road work and there have been m
established simply to work up the
killed logs Into boards and boxes.
The seasoning of flre-kllled ti
seems to be more perfect than that
ordinary seasoned lumber and ln
case of much of the pine that wo
otherwise have an objectionable r
the fire-seasoned logs can be worte
into cracker boxes and the like, wl
the odor ln ordinary pine lumber wo
make its use impossible.
Some of the flre-kllled timber
been used after It had been dead fi
five years, though the more comi
time is from three to seven years. '
forest service says that the use of i
dead and down timber makes avalli
many thousand acres of burned fo:
that were formerly accounted wo
less.
Correct Explanation.
Wife What Is meant, John, "by
phrase "carrying coals to Newcasti
Husband It Is a metaphor, my d
showing the doing of something tha
unnecessary.
Wife I don't exactly nndersti
Give me an illustration a familiar
Husband; Well, if I were, to bi
you home a book entitled "H
Talk," that would be "carrying .
to Newcastle." Judge's Library.
In tne Fnrnltnre Store.
Irate Customer (energeticah
want a square deal in this esta
ment ' ' '
Placid Proprietor All right,
ular piece o music to-day," said Mrs. Show the gentleman some kitche
Nexdore, "and she tried it on our bles. Baltimore American.
piano."
"Yes," replied Mrs. Knox, "and it " 18 to that a maa 19
was a wretched fit, wasn't It?" Phil- me lf he .tha wfl j
adelphla Ledger. , Ing over the telephone.